The need for some method or means by which certain machining operations can be effectively lubricated has long been generally recognized. Thus, for example, titanium cutting operations present special problems of high temperature and rapid tool wear which have withstood all prior efforts of others to minimize or eliminate them. One such attempt involved the application to a cutting tool of a coat of solid lubricant, primarily molybdenum disulfide, with the objective of providing a lubricating layer directly at the critical tool-chip contact zone. While positive lubricating results were reported on the basis of laboratory tests, the coated tools in a production floor operation did not prove to be any better than the same tools in uncoated condition.
Another approach based on the knowledge that iodine apparently reacts with titanium to form a titanium di-iodide layer which serves as an excellent lubricating surfaced involved the addition of iodine to conventional cutting fluids. This proved to have the main drawback that iodine used in that manner has a markedly corrosive effect upon the machine tools on which these fluids are used.